1
as in narrow
unwilling to grant other people social rights or to accept other viewpoints
it took a while for some of the more narrow-minded members of management to be persuaded to modernize the dress code
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
narrow-minded people who instinctively feared and shunned those from different cultures
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of narrow-minded
However, curiosity can interrupt that narrow-minded thinking, according to Maya Nehru, MA, LMFT, a psychotherapist offering services in anxiety and trauma in San Diego and Washington.
—
Jenna Ryu, SELF, 25 Mar. 2026
This is a valid concern, which is why the solution must be comprehensive, not narrow-minded.
—Jerry Presley, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
This wicker man becomes a devoted partner, sparking jealousy and malice in her narrow-minded neighbors, exploring themes of love, cruelty, and societal conformity.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
However, such an observation is short-sighted and narrow-minded.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 14 Jan. 2026
Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
The deficient vice of being open-minded is being narrow-minded.
—Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Knowledge-wise, science may be advancing, but, politically, its powers of persuasion are in retreat, in a moment defined, in many ways, by ignorance and narrow-minded grievance.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
Its opposite—illiberal—means stingy, narrow-minded, intolerant, provincial, unenlightened, and using government to insure the flourishing of only the few.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
Jenna Ryu, SELF, 25 Mar. 2026
This is a valid concern, which is why the solution must be comprehensive, not narrow-minded.
—Jerry Presley, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
This wicker man becomes a devoted partner, sparking jealousy and malice in her narrow-minded neighbors, exploring themes of love, cruelty, and societal conformity.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
However, such an observation is short-sighted and narrow-minded.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 14 Jan. 2026
Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
The deficient vice of being open-minded is being narrow-minded.
—Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Knowledge-wise, science may be advancing, but, politically, its powers of persuasion are in retreat, in a moment defined, in many ways, by ignorance and narrow-minded grievance.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
Its opposite—illiberal—means stingy, narrow-minded, intolerant, provincial, unenlightened, and using government to insure the flourishing of only the few.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for narrow-minded
Adjective
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In the end, the Basecamp V3 looks like an impressively small, capable trailer ready to carry all types of gear from its every free square inch - a high-capacity tiny hauler built to tow over rougher, narrower, steeper terrain than drivers towing larger trailers would ever dare try.—
C.C. Weiss
May 22,
New Atlas,
22 May 2026
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But most memorably, the Bellucci plays a lonely, melancholy artist living on the farm whose role holds the key to the movie’s (however narrow) emotional strengths.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
22 May 2026
Adjective
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Distraught by life in the South, Reed figured that the only way to escape his parochial childhood was to write his way out.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
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Research shows the disparity between vaccination coverage in private and parochial/religious versus public schools is that private and parochial/religious schools tend to have higher rates of exemptions to vaccinations for moral and religious beliefs.—
Kar-Hai Chu,
The Conversation,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Each of them was punched in the face as the attacker yelled out his bigoted remarks, police said.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
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This is a guy who could write these incredibly bigoted figures, and then also write this really searing indictment of American materialism.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The hit was a small smudge on Bruins ace Taylor Tinsley’s line, finishing with two strikeouts and three hits across the five innings.—
Liana Handler,
Los Angeles Times,
23 May 2026
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Four nations will be making their debut next month, including tiny Curaçao, the smallest by population ever to qualify.—
James Robson,
Chicago Tribune,
23 May 2026
Adjective
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There are two teenage boys in the film, Haruki (Waku Kawaguchi) and Keita (Kiyora Fuiwara), whose inchoate erotic feelings for one another, a love that can still barely say its name in provincial Japan, forms a subplot here.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
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The trade war’s latest turn Those provincial restrictions remained in place even after the two countries reached a partial deal exempting about half of USMCA‑compliant goods from ongoing tariffs in summer 2025, leading Canada to scale back some retaliatory levies.—
Andrew Muhammad,
The Conversation,
7 May 2026
Adjective
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Set in Gaza in 2007, and following the misadventures of a student (Nader Abd Alhay) and restaurant owner and petty criminal (Majd Eid), the picture premiered in Un Certain Regard last year and won the Best Director prize.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
16 May 2026
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On Monday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug crackdowns, in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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Up to 75% of the world’s population is intolerant to lactose.—
Jillian Kubala,
Health,
14 May 2026
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How to manage a susceptible, intolerant rose Roses that are both susceptible and intolerant to disease despite proper care should be shovel-pruned and replaced with cultivars that thrive with little or no disease.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 May 2026
Adjective
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Global disaster shadowed this year’s Witten Days for New Chamber Music, an ostensibly insular contemporary-music festival that takes place each spring in the Ruhr Valley, in Germany.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
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Notably, observing someone else’s expression of disgust can also activate the same insular sites as experiencing disgust firsthand.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Narrow-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/narrow-minded. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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